Relationship between body image, gender difference and self-esteem among adolescents

Abstract

Does any of this sound familiar? “I’m too tall.” “I’m too short.” “I’m too skinny.” “If only I were shorter/taller/had curly hair/straight hair/a smaller nose/longer legs, I’d be happy.” At some point or the other we all put ourselves down in terms of our own image of self. As teenagers, we go through a lot of turbulence due to the surging up of hormones which lead to many changes in our body. And, as our body changes, our image of our body also changes. We often tend to stick to these negative thoughts of our own body image which has a critical remark on our self- esteem, which also plays a central role in our mental health. During this phase, both girls and boys have their own and different perception of their own body image which makes them behave in certain ways. However, not enough is known how youth evaluate themselves as they move across adolescence. Objective: To study the relationship between body image, gender differences and self-esteem among adolescents. Method: The method adopted for this study was a survey. Adolescents between the age group 18-19 were randomly chosen with equal number of men and women and were given a Body Satisfaction Questionnaire 16A and self-esteem questionnaire by Rosenberg. Result: (1) No correlation was found between body image and self-esteem in males and females (2) Gender difference was seen in Body image among adolescents. (3) No gender difference was seen in self-esteem between the two genders. Implications: (1) Psychological links between body image and self-worth, could serve as key components for promotion of positive and healthy body satisfaction in adolescents. (2) Parenting education- Parents need to be aware of the role they play in their child’s body satisfaction.